A chareidi soldier serving as a combat paramedic in a unit in
the North has petitioned the High Court with a demand that the
IDF provide him with kosher lemehadrin meals. The
soldier, who filed the petition through the Association for
Citizens' Rights, claims that since his enlistment two and a
half years ago, he has been forced to subsidize the meals
provided by the IDF from his own resources.
In the petition, Attorney Dan Yakir, the Federation's
attorney, demanded that the IDF provide the soldier with
kosher food suiting his needs, and that it reimburse him for
funds he has personally laid out for his food since his
enlistment.
In addition, the soldier demands that a temporary order be
issued compelling the IDF to provide him with appropriate
kosher food until the end of deliberation on his appeal. He is
also demanding that the IDF make a policy change to provide
kosher lemehadrin food to soldiers, in accordance with
each soldier's halachic requirements.
In his appeal, the soldier claims that he is unable to eat the
food provided by the IDF, since he cannot eat food lacking
mehadrin supervision.
He claims that at the beginning of his military service he was
forced to subsist on bread and vegetables only. Later, when he
was placed in the air force command in the Kiryah (General
Staff compound) in Tel Aviv, there were serious kashrus
problems in the local kitchen. At that time, he was
allowed to avail himself of any food in the kitchen meeting
his halachic requirements. However, as Attorney Yakir states
in the appeal, this offer could not be implemented since the
food in the IDF does not meet minimal demands of stringent
kashrus observers.
The soldier appealed to the IDF a number of times, but to no
avail. As a result, he decided to appeal to the High Court.
"The IDF is obligated to see to the basic subsistence needs of
the petitioner and to enable him to keep his religious
precepts. Arrangements must be made to insure the availability
of food suiting all kashrus levels in the IDF,"
Attorney Yakir writes.
Yakir claims that many soldiers meticulous about eating
products with kashrus mehuderes supervision face this
problem and that a solution for all chareidim in the IDF must
be found. The means of providing every single soldier with
food with suitable hechsherim must be guaranteed, he
noted. "Negligence in this matter constitutes an offense to
basic respect of one's fellow and freedom of religion," Yakir
claimed, "and the IDF must stop undermining soldiers'
rights."
